An authors note...Huge hugs to all my readers...thanks so much! SO humbled by the warm response to the last chapter, even though it was very heavy on the angst. This one will be a little bit lighter, and bridge us nicely into the fluffy pieces that are soon to come. I would like to dedicate this chapter to Megan, in hopes that some sweet Artie/Alicia will make her smile...and not sob too badly:) Enjoy!

Disclaimer-Glee is the property of FOX, the creators and the writers.

Let It Be

With the baby's due date, or D(delivery)-day as Art had jokingly dubbed it, fast approaching, Alicia was grateful for some very welcomed time together with her boys.

The family usually planned a small getaway during Artie's spring break from school, but this year proved to be different...very different. Art and Alicia didn't think it would be wise to travel with her this late into her pregnancy, and Artie only out of the hospital five months. Besides, a trip to the water park resort they had gone to last year, didn't seem all that appealing anymore...at least to no one but Andy.

Alicia wanted nothing more than to make this week special for the both of them, but one glimpse at Artie through the window, sitting on the front porch, staring wistfully at all the kids playing around him, and she felt she was failing miserably.

"Hey Sweetie...," Alicia greeted as opened the door and slipped out. That caught Artie's attention, so much so, he was able to divert his gaze, and smile up at his mother. "What are you doing?" she asked softly, taking a seat on the chair next to him.

"Just reading," Artie answered, briefly glancing down at the book in his lap, before meeting her eyes once again. "I watched Andy cross the street," he stated dutifully, "...he didn't look both ways."

"Well then, I'll have to have a talk with him as soon as he gets back from Ryan's," Alicia assured him with a smile, filled with both appreciation and pride.

Artie grinned back, but his gaze faltered slightly. Alicia could tell he was trying really hard to not pay attention to the squeals and laughter going on across the street. "Did you know that whale sharks can live to be 150 years old?"

The randomness of that question made her smile. "I do now," she replied, as casually as she could without revealing the emotion that was bubbling up in the back of her throat.

"And the smallest species of shark only averages about four inches."

Alicia forced her smile wider. "Sounds like a really interesting book," she commented quietly, her expression softening to a questioning gaze. "Would you mind taking a break from it, though?" Artie's eyes flickered up to meet hers again. "I was hoping maybe we could do something together."

"Sure," he exclaimed, beaming. "I mean, yeah."

"Anything you want to do...it's such a beautiful day out...," Alicia stated, pausing only to take in the fresh air and glance around. "We could play some catch if you'd like...," she suggested, but backpedaled as soon as she noticed his eyes lower self-consciously, "...or we could just...take a little walk..."

"Okay," he interjected, perking right back up.

"Okay," she parroted, her grin widening genuinely this time...to match the one Artie was wearing, "...let me just grab my keys and call over to Ryan's house, to let Andy know we'll be gone for a bit."

...

As they strolled, Alicia noticed Artie becoming less and less distracted by the neighborhood kids playing around them, and more engrossed in reciting fun shark facts, or simply taking in the beauty of their surroundings.

"Hey Mom, are you okay?" Artie asked a trailing Alicia, his eyes wide with concern.

"I'm fine Sweetie," she was quick to answer, though still slightly breathless as she struggled to keep up. "I'm sorry I'm not very fast right now," she added with an apologetic frown, "It's not easy moving with all this extra weight, and there's not a lot of room left in there, so when your sister decides to stretch like that, I have to stop and take a break."

Artie couldn't help but smile, as much as he felt bad that his mother was so uncomfortable, talk of his baby sister always made him happy.

"Should we go back home?"

Alicia regarded her son for a moment, he was truly the most selfless child she had ever known. She lovingly caressed his cheek, and cupped his chin in her hand. "I think I can make it a little farther...if we go slow."

"I can go slow," Artie replied definitively, then paused a beat as he glanced back over his shoulder, and offered, "And you can hold on if you need to."

Alicia simply beamed. There were so many times throughout the day that she wanted nothing more than to scoop Artie into her arms and squeeze him...this was definitely one of those times. "How about you rest your arms for a bit and let me push," she offered, knowing from the short eight months of experience, that it took more effort and control for Artie to go slow than it did for him to push at a normal stride, "that way I can go as slow as I need, while still holding on for support?"

Artie flashed his trademark grin and nodded, then simply folded his hands in his lap, and let his mother take over the reigns.

The two continued on in companionable silence for a few minutes, each one lost in their own thoughts, when Artie lowered his hands back down to the rims of his chair. "Do you think she'll like me, Mom?"

"What Honey..." Alicia, caught off guard, stammered to clarify, "do I think who will like you?"

"The baby?"

Well, she definitely wasn't prepared for that. Her throat seized painfully and her eyes filled with tears. "Of course Artie...what makes you think she wouldn't like you?," she managed to croak out, before a single tear made it's way down her cheek.

Artie shrugged as he simultaneously pulled his chair to a stop on the path they were strolling down. "I don't know," he said meekly, eyes cast down, hands twisting in his lap. "I'm just not gonna be able to do all the things I did with Andy...with her."

Alicia was able to choke back the rest of her tears, even though she felt like her heart was being ripped from her chest. "No, I suppose you wont...," she replied, matter-of-fact but tenderly, "...but you might not have done those same things together anyway."

That got his attention, and Artie's imploring eyes immediately flickered up to meet Alicia's. She led him to a bench alongside the path, and sat down next to him. "First of all Artie, she's a girl...," Alicia gently reminded him, "...and second, she's never going to know you any other way."

Artie gave a halfhearted nod, and it was obvious neither of those facts brought him much comfort. "I just wanna be a really good big brother," he confided softly.

"Oh Honey, you already are a great big brother," Alicia countered reassuringly, but Artie still wasn't convinced. Tenderly, she grasped her sons small hand and held it in her. "You know what a little sister needs from a big brother?" Artie held her watery gaze and shook his head. "She needs someone who will be patient with her...someone who doesn't mind occasionally playing Barbie dolls, or baking cupcakes, or going to ballet recitals. She needs a brother who will show her, by example, how to be a good person, who will love her unconditionally...and protect her as best he can."

"I can do all that," Artie beamed, promising without reservation.

"I know you can," Alicia concurred, just as definitively. "And I also know that you never have to worry about your sister not liking you, Sweetheart," she stated, giving his hand a gentle squeeze, before placing it on her rippling belly for emphasis and smiling at him, "...because I'm pretty sure she already loves you."